MARIETTA CITY SCHOOLS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

FOR

Learning Management System

FOR

MCS TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

DUE BY: March 22nd, 2018

Marietta City Schools Learning Management System

INTRODUCTION Marietta City Schools is a public K-12 school district in Marietta, Georgia that serves nearly 9000 students at eight elementary choice schools, one sixth-grade school, one middle school, and one high school. MCS is home to four Georgia Schools of Excellence and one National School of Excellence. The school district has approximately 1200 employees located at fourteen sites.

SUMMARY

Marietta City Schools seeks an enterprise-level learning management system (LMS) to support its instructional mission, for both its on- and off-campus courses. Additionally, as an institution-wide resource, the LMS must support collaborative meeting, service, and administrative groups within and beyond the school district. The LMS course software must be comprehensive, reliable, flexible, and secure. The system must be able to integrate with our student information system (SIS) - Follett’s ASPEN SIS. MCS seeks a scalable infrastructure for 100 to 50,000 users and beyond; including the ability to host professional development, and other community stakeholders including parents.

SCOPE OF SERVICES Product/Services must include the following features and specifications:

I. Required LMS Features

a. Communication

i. Customizable notifications of activities in course, e.g., email, text, etc.

ii. Customizable notifications of announcements in course, e.g., email, text, etc.

iii. Student & faculty profiles with pictures.

iv. Collaborative text tools, e.g. threaded discussions.

v. Integration with or ability to integrate web conferencing.

vi. A parent portal that vendor can manage parent accounts and passwords

vii. Parent portal that displays information to a parent of all children enrolled

viii. Ability to support multiple languages (primarily Spanish, Portuguese, and French)

b. Content Management

i. Ability to associate (link) rubrics with assignments.

ii. Ability to associate outcomes with assignments and rubrics.

iii. Ability to share and import rubrics (i.e. International Bachelorette)

iv. Ability to search across pages and courses.

v. Ability to survey and poll.

vi. Calendar with links that auto-populate to assignments and activity due dates.

vii. Direct import and HTML conversion of Office documents and PDFs.

viii. File storage shared across courses.

ix. Import/export of exam questions.

x. Integration with Google Drive.

xi. Must provide for district defined terminology and custom meta tagging.

xii. Must be able to tag content based on grade level, subject, district and state standards, and resource type.

c. Course Administration

i. 365/24/7 help desk for faculty, students, administrators, and parents.

ii. Ability for faculty to add guests & participants external to MCS.

iii. Batch file upload & download for enrollment and grading.

iv. Exam security tools including a lockdown browser.

v. Integration with plagiarism detection tools like “Turnitin”.

vi. User analytics.

vii. User authentication tools.

d. Course Building

i. Audio/video recording ability built into the system.

ii. Customizable layout and design.

iii. Drag & drop content creation and management.

iv. HTML editor.

v. Comprehensive online help pages and guides.

vi. Visual (WYSIWYG) editor.

vii. Ability to export courses to other LMS in SCORN format.

viii. Lesson planning tool

ix. Ability to create templates or course shells that can be shared or pushed out

e. Exams & Quizzes

i. Exam statistics with the ability to breakdown question based on standards.

ii. Flexible grading processes.

iii. Partial point credit.

iv. Random order capacity.

v. Random question pools.

vi. Test banks (collection of questions).

vii. Timed Exam.

f. Learning Activities

i. The ability for students or instructors to create & post audio and video responses in discussions or in grading feedback.

ii. Ability for faculty/instructors/students to create and manage groups.

iii. Conditional release of content (i.e. personalized learning paths)

iv. Discussion forums.

v. Personal file storage for faculty.

vi. Ability for students to upload different file types

vii. Ability to annotate and comment on student work

viii. Ability to report completed and incomplete assignments and activities (i.e. track learner progress)

ix. Ability to create portfolios

g. Collaboration Tools

i. Provide one on one remediation directly attached to assignments.

ii. Ability to require a discussion post before a student can see replies.

iii. Annotate, highlight, comment.

iv. Portal for direct communication with a student directly on the assignment in a logical, cohesive manner.

v. Must provide an environment where educators can share learning resources, files, videos.

vi. Ability to contribute to a local or globally shared repository of professional resources.

vii. Video conferencing tool

h. Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI)

i. Must support LTI tools and include simple interface for tool consumption.

ii. Must provide outcomes support to accept outcomes or assessment results from LTI compliant curriculum publishers.

iii. Must provide I frame support of LTI content.

iv. Must provide for common cartridge import and export.

i. Internal Assessment System (either built within the LMS or another assessment system that can be integrated seamlessly with the LMS). Additional costs (if any) should be shown separately in pricing.

i. List of the different item types available and which item types are technology enhanced

ii. List of test tools available (e.g. highlighting, magnify, internal calculator, etc.)

iii. Ability to add feedback on assessments (e.g. automatic feedback on correct/incorrect responses)

iv. Data Analysis - ability to report assessment data by demographics and subgroups

v. Ability to import other assessment data (e.g. NWEA MAP, Georgia Milestones) and then be able to compare data through a robust reporting system

vi. Access to an item bank where items are already aligned to the Georgia standards and depth of knowledge

vii. Ability to create and share assessments at various levels (e.g. district level, building level, teacher)

viii. System must allow for import/export of items and the district maintains ownership of all district imported items

ix. Permissions should be controlled by role and allow for the district to modify permissions

x. Reporting should be live and permission based such that a report “template” could be created and shared so one could see the data for the students they have permission

xi. Reports should be able to be downloaded in at least PDF, Excel, or csv files types

xii. The assessment system should allow for various accommodations that are allowed by the Georgia Department of Education’s Student Assessment Handbook

II. Technical Requirements

a. Software should be web-based, requiring no software installation on local client machines.

b. Support 100% cloud-based server hosting.

c. Web applications must be platform/browser independent and support current and recent-past versions of all major browsers, i.e., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

d. Application must be compatible with the following devices: tablets (Android, Windows, Apple), Chromebooks, Mac OS, and Windows OS 7, 8 &10.

e. The proposed solution must include a single sign-on (SSO) mechanism within the application launch so that users do not have to login twice.

f. Software must be able to integrate with ASPEN SIS

g. Provide schedulable batch integration.

h. Provide real-time integration.

i. Built in support for 3rd party content and integration w/open educational resource platforms (OER).

j. Allow batch processing, and database import/export functionalities.

k. Provide tools for the creation of batch reports.

l. Provide real-time, user-defined query ability.

m. Provide data encryption on servers and data transfer.

n. Ability to integrate with Active Directory for authentication and to facilitate single sign-on through the district/campus portal.

o. The system must provide robust auditing capabilities including logs, status errors, warnings, etc.

p. Backup procedures for the application and database (in case the entire system needs to be recovered) should allow recovery to a point and time no greater than 12 hours.

q. Provide a process of protecting data security to include, but not limited to the compliance with federal and state statutes; regulations of the district’s policies; and FERPA/COPPA. Provide information of a demonstrated commitment to and process for protecting data security.

r. Must provide a searchable knowledge base for problem lookup.

s. The proposed solution must provide the district with a single sign-on that can deliver pertinent instructional and staff development information based on a user’s role. Please explain how your solution can integrate with Active Directory or LDAP, or any third party authentication service.

t. Must product a support system with knowledgeable staff and reasonable times for service response.

u. Must provide support for 365 days with 24/7 support.

v. Training must be made available. What different methods of training are available (on site, web classes, etc.)?

w. Please describe the availability of system administration/technical training.

x. Must provide notification to clients via email lists on upcoming releases, changes, and retirements

III. Technical Requirements for Hosting

a. The hosted service shall provide all required hardware, bandwidth, and interface tools necessary to provide robust, quality services as requested.

b. Primary and backup data centers must be at a high security level. Please fully describe the security at your data centers.

c. Provide a description of the technical infrastructure associated with highly reliable and continuously available hosting services, including SLA thresholds descriptions of

redundancies, storage capacity, network throughput requirements, and other pertinent hosting information and requirements.

d. Downtime procedures: Demonstrate that hosting services will be provided with minimal downtime. The scheduling of routine downtime and upgrades that require downtime must be agreed upon by both parties in a written mutual agreement.

e. Unscheduled downtime due to unforeseen circumstances will be communicated immediately to MCS.

f. During the unexpected downtime, the complete and accurate status of restoration efforts shall be provided to MCS.

g. The Offerer shall describe the backup process and resource along with the restore process and the resource to be used.

h. Storage Capacity: Adequate storage capacity must exist and be readily expandable as CRM usage increases. No downtime should be required for expansion of necessary storage.

i. Network throughput to and from the offerer must be sufficient to handle the volume of usage described within this RFP.

j. Describe how, in the event of contract termination, MCS’s data would be extracted and provided to MCS.

k. The application hardware will be located in a physically secure environment.

l. Backup power will be provided to ensure system uptime.

m. The application and infrastructure will encrypt PII and sensitive information.

n. The application will encrypt data while it is stored on the system.

o. The application will encrypt data as it is transmitted from the system to users.

p. The application will encrypt data as it is transmitted within the system or between two systems.

q. Application infrastructure such as servers, networking equipment, and security devices will be regularly maintained using a documented maintenance schedule. Infrastructure hardware will be current Infrastructure software and operating systems will be regularly patched using a documented schedule.

r. The application infrastructure and data will be regularly backed up.

s. The backup process will be tested regularly to ensure functionality.

t. The application code will be regularly reviewed for vulnerabilities.

1. User credentials will be secured.

2. User credentials will be transmitted using secure protocols (such as SSL).

3. User passwords will be encrypted or hashed while stored on the system.

4. User passwords will be hidden in the system to prevent system administrators from viewing user passwords.

5. The application will provide data compartmentalization to ensure a breach to another customer’s database will not compromise the Districts data.

6. The application will log an appropriate amount of user actions.

7. Application logs will show which user posted what item at a specific time from a specific computer IP address.

8. Logs will be preserved to meet digital signature requirements.

IV. Pricing

a. First year cost of required licenses.

b. Cost per software license in addition to initial purchase.

c. Implementation consulting, including integrations.

d. Technical and/or system administration training - onsite

e. Instructional staff training - onsite

f. Access to a development environment to test new functionality and integrations.

g. Total implementation costs and first-year software with options for 2 to 5 years renewal.

h. Responses must include complete (bundled) pricing. This is an absolute requirement

i. Responses that do not include comprehensive pricing will not receive further consideration.

i. If after award there is a decrease in the price of a product from the manufacturer, or a rebate, the successful vendor will pass that price decrease and/or rebate onto the Marietta City Schools.

General Requirements ASSERTIONS BY VENDOR

Each of the following items should be addressed in response to this bid solicitation:

• Vendor must provide evidence of satisfactory performance with customers in the public K-12 education market. This must be met by providing three customer references.

• Vendor must provide evidence of stability and reliability.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

Each proposal will be evaluated based on criteria and priorities as defined by MCS, which will choose the submission that, taken as a whole, and in MCS’s sole opinion, is in the best interest of the organization. Proposals should address the evaluation criteria itemized below.

The evaluation criteria include but are not limited to the following:

• The overall best pricing for products and services. • Suitability of proposed product(s) for purpose and best fit of proposed product(s) into

existing inventory, environment and support structure. • Product evaluations based on web resources, discussions with other information

technology professionals and direct experience with product when possible. • The vendor’s overall performance record, including responsiveness and reputation

based on feedback from available references as well as prior satisfactory experience with Marietta City Schools.

• The perceived quality of the vendor’s response, including completeness, accuracy and appropriateness.

• Stability/risk of vendor, including assessment of risk that they may not be able to fulfill responsibilities.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS RESPONSE SUBMISSION

Responses to this bid solicitation must be submitted and delivered to MCS as “sealed bids” no later than 4:00 p.m. on March 22nd, 2018 (“Final Submission Date”). Proposals must include a digital copy on DVD, CD or flash drive. Acceptable digital formats include Word, RTF or PDF. It is the sole responsibility of the respondents to ensure that their responses arrive in a timely manner. MCS will reject all late arrivals. Envelopes containing responses to this bid solicitation shall be marked “Learning Management System 2018“. The outside of the envelope shall be identified as follows: Marietta City Schools Learning Management System 2018 250 Howard Street Marietta, Georgia 30060

Oral, telephone, electronic mail or fax bids shall not be considered, nor will modifications of proposals by such communication be considered. The completed bid response shall be without erasures or alterations. Delivery of the proposals will be considered authorized by the service provider to make a contract, if awarded.

Any questions should be made in writing via e-mail to Mr. David Digiovanni, ddigiovanni@marietta-city.k12.ga.us , Director of Technology and Information Systems. All responses to questions, and any clarifications or addendums to this request shall be sent to all requestors and shall be posted on the web at www.marietta-city.org under Public Announcements.

COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PREPARATION OF THE VENDOR’S RESPONSE

MCS will not be liable for any cost incurred by the respondents in preparing responses to this bid or negotiations associated with award of a contract.

PROPOSAL BINDING PERIOD

Proposals should be valid for a period of six (6) months.

BID OPENING PROCEDURE

All bids submissions will be recorded being received on March 22nd, 2018 at 4:00pm. Evaluation and scoring will be done at a later date. Bid recommendation will be submitted to the Marietta City Schools Board for final approval.

OMISSIONS

Omissions in the proposal of any provision herein described shall not be construed as to relieve the vendor of any responsibility or obligation to the complete and satisfactory delivery, operation, and support of any and all equipment or services.

EVALUATION OF RESPONSES MCS may at its discretion and at no fee to MCS, invite any vendor to be available for questioning during the response evaluation for the purpose of clarifying statements in the response. Further, MCS may, at vendor’s expense, request vendor to meet with MCS for a personal interview.

RIGHT TO REJECT

MCS reserves the right to accept or reject all proposals or sections thereof and when the rejection is in the best interest of MCS and reserves the right to award without further discussion. MCS reserves the right to waive minor irregularities of any proposal and to negotiate the terms of any proposal. MCS reserve the right to accept and/or solicit additional proposals after the final submission date at its discretion.

CERTIFICATION OF NONCOLLUSION By submitting a bid the bidder certifies: “that this bid is made without prior understanding, agreement, or connection with any corporation firm, or person submitting a bid for the same materials, supplies, or equipment, and is in all respects fair and with collusion or fraud. That collusive bidding is understood to be a violation of State and Federal law and can result in fines, prison sentences, and civil damage awards.”

PURCHASING POLICY/INVOICING

a. The MBOE Purchasing Policy, Purchasing Procedures and Regulations are incorporated to this Request for Proposal (and therefore any contract awarded as the result of the RFP) by reference. By acceptance of this RFP a bidder, potential bidder, or contractor agrees to be bound by the MBOE Purchasing Policy and Purchasing Regulations in any issue to action related to this RFP or subsequent contract resulting from this RFP. A copy of the procedure manual is available upon request.

b. All invoices and/or financial correspondence should be directed to Accounts Payable, Marietta City Schools, P. O. Box 1265, Marietta, GA.

c. Invoices must be original. Copies or facsimiles are not acceptable. Invoices will be paid within 30 days of receipt and within 30 days notification receipt of goods or services by receipt.

d. Purchases of the Board of Education of the City of Marietta are not subject to sales taxes. Tax exempt certificates will be furnished upon request.

e. A W-9 must be submitted before payment can be made. f. Awarded bidder must be in full compliance with all applicable federal and state security

and immigration laws including without limitation the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act as amended, O.C.G.A. §13‐10‐90, O.C.G.A. §13‐10‐91, and Georgia Department of Labor Rule 300‐10‐1, et. Seq. Supplier is required to affirm supplier’s compliance by completing and returning the enclosed Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance documents.

THE CONTRACT AGREEMENT MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE OFFEROR AND RETURNED WITH THE PROPOSAL PACKAGE. Representative’s signature below confirms that terms listed below have been read and understood.

CONTRACT AGREEMENT

1. The supplier has carefully examined and fully understands the General and Special Terms and Conditions and related documents in providing _________________________to Marietta City Schools. Vendor further understands that unless the vendor’s exception to any RFP terms and condition, including any exhibits thereto, is specifically agreed to by MCS in writing, then the vendor agrees to abide by the RFP by so signing this document.

2. The supplier has complied with O.C.G.A. §13-10-90, O.C.G.A. §13-10-91 and Georgia DOL Rule 300-10-1.02 which are conditions for contract award.

3. The supplier affirms that we, nor any principal of the supplier, are as of the date of the representative’s signature listed on the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS). Any debarments or suspensions must be disclosed in writing to the Superintendent within ten calendar days of the notification of the debarment or suspension, to produce immediately upon request written documentation of any debarment or suspension and to cooperate fully in any Marietta City Schools’ investigation.

4. The supplier has completed in its entirety the Marietta City Schools’ Vendor Registration Packet included in this RFP with IRS form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. Signing the Contract Agreement affirms that this original document has not been altered in any way. ______________________________________ _______________________________ Company Name Representative’s Signature (Must be signed in ink) ______________________________________ _______________________________ Address Representative’s Name (Please type or print) ______________________________________ _______________________________ City, State, and Zip Code E-mail Address ______________________________________ _______________________________ Date Telephone & Fax Number Upon notice of Award, this page will become the prevailing Contract Agreement between your organization and Marietta City Schools.

Marietta City Schools

Vendor Reference Sheet

Company

Address

City State Zip Code

Contact Name

Telephone Fax E-mail

Company

Address

City State Zip Code

Contact Name

Telephone Fax E-mail

Company

Address

City State Zip Code

Contact Name

Telephone Fax E-mail

BUSINESS INFORMATION

Business Name

Address

City State Zip Code

Web Address

Federal ID Number or SSN (W-9 form also required)

CONTACT INFORMATIONGeneral Contact Name Phone Fax

Contact Email Address

Purchasing Contact Name Phone Fax

Purchasing Email Address (all Purchase Orders will be sent via email to this address)

PAYMENT INFORMATION

Do you accept electronic payments?YES NO on check run dates.

Bank Name___________________________________________________________

Bank Routing Number___________________________________________________

Bank Account Number:__________________________________________________

PAYMENT/REMITTANCE ADDRESS (If Different From Above)

Business Name

Address

City State Zip CodeAccounts Payable Contact Name Phone Fax

Accounts Payable Email Address

OTHER VENDOR INFORMATION

Georgia Security & Immigration Compliance Act as amended, OCGA 13-10-90 et.seq., must be submitted.

W-9 Form - Request for Taxpayer Identification Number & Certification must be submitted with registration.

Submit invoices and address changes to accountspayable@marietta-city.orgMail invoices to: Marietta City Schools, Attn: Accounts Payable, P.O. Box 1265, Marietta, GA 30061

______________________________________________ ________________ ______________________________________(Representative Signature) Date Representative Name

VENDOR REGISTRATION FORM

Select One: Checking Savings*

*Deposits to Savings Accounts will only be available after October 2016

Please consider electronic payments for immediate deposit to your account

TO ALL PROSPECTIVE CONTRACTORS/VENDORS: Contractor’s full compliance with all applicable federal and state security and immigration laws, including without limitation the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act as amended, O.C.G.A. §13-10-90, O.C.G.A. §13-10-91, and Georgia Department of Labor Rule 300-10-1, et. seq. is a condition to the Contractor’s bid/proposal/quote and contract. In order to insure compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), D.L. 99-603 and the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform Act of 2011, OCGA 13-10-90 et. seq., (collectively the “Act”) the Vendor (“Contractor”) MUST INITIAL the statement applicable to Contractor below; and Contractor must immediately notify Marietta City Schools in writing if the affirmations below change:

(a)_____(Initial here): Contractor warrants that, Contractor has registered at https://e-verify.uscis.gov/enroll/ to verify information of all new employees in order to comply with the Act; is authorized to use and uses the federal authorization program; will continue to use the authorization program throughout the contract period; Contractor further warrants and agrees Contractor shall execute and return any and all affidavits required by the Act and the rules and regulations issued by the Georgia Department of Labor as set forth at Rule 300-10-1-.01 et.seq.

3) ____ Contractor will not employ or contract with any subcontractor in connection with a covered contract with Marietta City Schools unless the subcontractor is registered, authorized to use, and uses the federal work authorization program; and provides Contractor with all affidavits required by the Act and the rules and regulations issued by the Georgia Department of Labor as set forth at Rule 300-10-1-.01 et.seq.

4) ____Contractor agrees that, if Contractor employs or contracts with any sub-contractor in connection a covered contract with the Marietta City Schools under the Act and DOL Rule 300-10-1-.02, that Contractor will secure from each sub-contractor at the time of the contract the sub-contractor’s name and address, the employee-number applicable to the sub-contractor ,the date the authorization to use the federal work authorization program was granted to sub-contractor; the subcontractor’s attestation of the subcontractor’s compliance with the Act and Georgia Department of Labor Rule 300-10-1-.2.; and the subcontractor’s agreement not to contract with sub-subcontractors unless the sub-subcontractor is registered, authorized to use, and uses the federal work authorization program; and provides subcontractor with all affidavits required by the Act and the rules and regulations issued by the Georgia Department of Labor as set forth at Rule 300-10-1-.01 et.seq.

5)____ Contractor agrees to provide Marietta City Schools with all affidavits of compliance as required by O.C.G.A. § 13-10-90 et seq. and Georgia Department of Labor Rule 300-10-1-.02, 300-10-1-.03, 300-10-1-.07 and 300-10-1-.08 within five (5) business days of receipt.

CONTRACTOR AFFIDAVIT AND AGREEMENT

By executing this affidavit, the undersigned contractor verifies its compliance with O.C.G.A. 13-10-91, and attests under oath that:

(1) the individual, firm, or corporation (“Contractor”) which is contracting with the Marietta City Schools has registered with, is authorized to use, uses, and will continue throughout the contract term to use and participate in, a federal work authorization program [any of the electronic verification of work authorization programs operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security or any equivalent federal work authorization program operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security to verify information of newly hired employees, pursuant to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), P.L. 99-603], in accordance with the applicability provisions and deadlines established in O.C.G.A. 13-10-91, as amended. As of the effective date of O.C.G.A. 13-10-91, the applicable federal work authorization program is the “EEV/Basic Pilot Program” operated by the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Social Security Administration (SSA). (2) Contractor’s correct user identification number and date of authorization is set forth herein below. (3) Contractor agrees that the Contractor will not employ or contract with any subcontractor(s) in connection with the physical performance of services pursuant to this contract with the Marietta City Schools, unless at the time of the contract said subcontractor (a) is registered with and participates in the federal work authorization program; (b) provides Contractor with a duly executed, notarized affidavit with the same affirmations, agreements, and information as contained herein and in such form as required under applicable law; and (c) agrees to provide Contractor with notice of receipt and a copy of every sub-subcontractor Affidavit or other applicable verification procured by subcontractor at the time of contract with the sub-subcontractor(s) within five (5) business days after receiving the said Affidavit or verification. Contractor agrees to maintain records of such compliance and to provide notice of receipt and a copy of each such subcontractor Affidavit or other applicable verification to the Marietta City Schools at the time the subcontractor(s) is retained to perform such service or within five (5) days after receiving the said Affidavit or verification, whichever first occurs.

(4) Contractor further agrees to and shall provide Marietta City Schools with copies of all other affidavits or other applicable verification received by Contractor (ie: sub-subcontractor affidavits and all other lower tiered affidavits) within five (5) days of receipt.

_________________________________ EEV/Basic Pilot Program User Identification Number Date of Authorization If an applicable Federal work authorization program as described above is used, other than the EEV/Basic Pilot Program, please identify the program. Company Name / Contractor Name BY: Signature of Authorized Officer or Agent Date Title of Authorized Officer or Agent of Contractor Printed Name of Authorized Officer or Agent SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN BEFORE ME ON THIS THE ______ DAY OF____________________, 20____ Notary Public My Commission Expires: *As of the effective date of O.C.G.A. 13-10-91, the applicable federal work authorization program is the “EEV/Basic Pilot Program” operated by the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Social Security Administration (SSA). 511069_1.DOC Last revised” 06-10-2011